JP2000342515A - Electronic endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the diameter of an electronic endoscope by arranging the terminal of an image pickup element on the side of its longer edge. SOLUTION: An electronic endoscope 1 is provided with a flexible and long- length endoscope body 2. In the body 2, forceps channel 41, a water feeding channel 42 and an air feeding channel 43 are formed along a longitudinal direction of the body 2, and a pair of optical fiber fluxes 44 and 45 for light guide is installed along the longitudinal direction. At the tip part 21 of the body 2, an image pickup optical system consisting of a pair of oriented lenses 31, 32, an object lens 33, lenses 34 to 36 and an optical low pass filter 37, and a CCD image sensor 5 are installed. Three of the six terminals 55 of the sensor 5 are arranged on the side of one long edge 54a of an image pickup area 52 along this edge 54a and the other three are arranged on the side of the other long edge 54b of the image pickup area 52 along this edge 54b.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to an electronic endoscope.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, in the medical field, an electronic endoscope apparatus has been used for examination and diagnosis of a digestive tract and the like.

This electronic endoscope apparatus includes an endoscope light source device and an electronic endoscope detachably mounted (connected) to the endoscope light source device and having a CCD image sensor at a distal end. It is composed of

FIG. 3 is a diagram (a plan view and a side view) showing a CCD image sensor of a conventional electronic endoscope.

As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional electronic endoscope C
The CD image sensor 100 has a package 110 whose outer shape is a rectangular parallelepiped.

In this package 110, a CCD chip 120 having a rectangular image pickup area (light receiving surface) 130 is accommodated. Each terminal 15 of the CCD chip 120
0 are arranged on the short side 140 side of the imaging region 130, respectively.

[0007] A plurality of pins 160 are joined to the bottom surface of the package 110. These pins 160
Are electrically connected to the corresponding contact portions (land portions) 180, respectively, and are electrically connected to the corresponding terminals 150 via the land portions 180 and the lead wires 170.

However, in the conventional electronic endoscope, since the terminals 150 of the CCD image sensor 100 are arranged along the short side 140, the front surface of the package 110 of the CCD image sensor 100 (the light receiving surface side). Surface), the length of the long side and the length of the diagonal line are relatively long,
This hinders a reduction in the diameter of the electronic endoscope.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic endoscope capable of reducing the diameter.

[0010]

This and other objects are achieved by the present invention which is defined below as (1) to (7).

(1) An electronic endoscope having an image pickup device having a substantially rectangular image pickup area at a distal end thereof, wherein a terminal of the image pickup device is arranged on a long side of the electronic endoscope. .

With this, the length of the diagonal line of the image pickup device (package) and the length of the long side of the image pickup device on the front surface (surface on the light receiving surface side) of the image pickup device can be made relatively short, so that the electronic endoscope can be used. Can be reduced in diameter.

(2) The electronic endoscope according to the above (1), wherein a tip end of at least one functional channel is arranged near a short side of the image pickup device. Thereby, the diameter of the electronic endoscope can be reduced.

(3) In the above (1), the distal ends of the plurality of functional channels are separately arranged near one short side of the image sensor and near the other short side of the image sensor. The electronic endoscope according to the above. Thereby, the diameter of the electronic endoscope can be reduced.

(4) The distal ends of the plurality of functional channels are arranged so as to be substantially line-symmetric with respect to a line passing through the center of the imaging region of the imaging device and parallel to a short side of the imaging region. The electronic endoscope according to (3) above. Thereby, the diameter of the electronic endoscope can be reduced.

(5) The electronic endoscope according to any one of (2) to (4), wherein the functional channel includes a light guide optical fiber bundle. Illumination light can be applied to the observation site from the distal end of the light guide optical fiber bundle.

(6) One end of the pair of light guide optical fiber bundles is disposed near one short side of the image pickup device, and the other end of the pair of light guide optical fiber bundles is the image pickup device. The electronic endoscope according to the above (1), which is disposed near the other short side of the electronic endoscope. It is possible to irradiate the observation site with the illumination light from the distal end portion of the light guide optical fiber bundle, and to reduce the diameter of the electronic endoscope.

(7) The distal ends of the pair of light guide optical fiber bundles pass through the center of the imaging region of the imaging device and are line-symmetric with respect to a line parallel to the short side of the imaging region. The electronic endoscope according to (6), wherein This makes it possible to more uniformly irradiate the observation site with the illumination light and to reduce the diameter of the electronic endoscope.

[0019]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an electronic endoscope according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram (bottom view and sectional view) showing an embodiment of an electronic endoscope according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic endoscope 1 includes a flexible (flexible) long endoscope main body 2.

The endoscope body 2 has a plurality of function channels. That is, the endoscope main body 2 includes a forceps channel (lumen) 41 through which a treatment tool such as a forceps or a laser treatment tool is inserted, a water supply channel 42, and an air supply channel 43, respectively. A pair of light guide optical fiber bundles (LCB: light cable bundle) 44 formed along the longitudinal direction;
45 are provided along the longitudinal direction. In addition,
These arrangements will be described later in detail.

The end portion 21 of the endoscope main body 2 includes a pair of orientation lenses (illumination lenses) 31, 32, an objective lens 33, lenses 34, 35, 36, and an optical low-pass filter 37. An image pickup optical system and a CCD image sensor (image pickup device) 5 are provided, respectively. An interval ring 38 is provided between the lens 34 and the lens 35.
Is installed. These arrangements will be described later in detail.

FIG. 2 is a diagram (a plan view and a side view) showing a configuration example of the CCD image sensor 5.

As shown in FIG. 1, the CCD image sensor 5 has a package 50 having a rectangular parallelepiped outer shape. The package 50 includes a base 50b and the base 5
And a transparent cover 50a joined to the cover 50a.

In this package 50, a CCD chip 51 having a rectangular image pickup area (light receiving surface) 52 is housed.

The CCD chip 51 is provided with a plurality of terminals 55. Note that the terminal 5 is shown in FIG.
The number of 5 (pins 56) indicates six CCD image sensors 5. Three of these terminals 55 are arranged along the long side 54 a on one long side 54 a side of the imaging region 52, respectively, and the remaining three are respectively arranged on the other long side of the imaging region 52. It is arranged on the 54b side along this long side 54b.

By arranging the terminals 55 on the long sides 54a and 54b of the imaging region 52 in this manner, compared to the case where the terminals 55 are arranged on the short sides 53a and 53b of the imaging region 52, the front surface of the package 50 is The length of the diagonal line of the package 50 and the length of the long side of the package 50 on the (light receiving surface side) are reduced, and the diameter of the endoscope main body 2 can be reduced.

In the vicinity of each terminal 55 of the base 50b, a contact portion (land portion) 58 is provided, respectively. Each land portion 58 has a lead wire 57
Is electrically connected to the corresponding terminal 55 via the.

Further, six L-shaped pins 56 are joined to the bottom surface of the base 50b of the package 50, respectively. Three of these pins 56 are
Are arranged along the long side 54a on the one long side 54a side, and the remaining three are arranged along the long side 54b on the other long side 54b side of the imaging region 52, respectively.

One end of each of these pins 56 is
It is electrically connected to the corresponding land 58, and is electrically connected to the corresponding terminal 55 via the land 58 and the lead wire 57.

The electronic endoscope 1 has a signal processing circuit (not shown), and the other end of each of the pins 56 is connected to the signal processing circuit via a signal line (not shown). ing.

Next, the arrangement of the functional channels and the like at the distal end portion 21 of the endoscope main body 2 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the CCD image sensor 5 passes through the center of the
The straight line (line segment) 6 parallel to the short sides 53 a and 53 b of the endoscope 2 passes through the central axis (axis) 22 of the endoscope main body 2 and is disposed at a position eccentric from the central axis 22.

On the tip side of the CCD image sensor 5, the objective lens 33, lenses 34, 35, 36 and an optical low-pass filter 37 are arranged.

The forceps channel 41 is located near the long side 54a of the CCD image sensor 5
It is arranged at a position eccentric from.

The functional channels other than the forceps channel 41, that is, the water supply channel 42, the air supply channel 43, and the light guide optical fiber bundles 44 and 45 are located near the short side 53a and near the short side 53b. And arranged so as to be line-symmetric with respect to the straight line 6.

That is, the water supply channel 42 and the air supply channel 43 are arranged near the short side 53a and near the short side 53b, respectively, and are symmetric with respect to the straight line 6. .

The light guide optical fiber bundle 44
And 45 are disposed near the short side 53a and near the short side 53b, respectively, and are arranged to be line-symmetric with respect to the straight line 6.

These light guide optical fiber bundles 44
Alignment lenses 31 and 32 are arranged on the tip sides of the lenses 45 and 45, respectively.

By arranging each functional channel with respect to the CCD image sensor 5 in such an arrangement, the diameter of the endoscope main body 2 can be further reduced.

That is, according to the CCD image sensor 5 shown in FIG. 2, the length (dimension) of the package 50 in the direction of the long side 54a of the imaging region 52 can be reduced, and the overall shape of the package 50 can be reduced. The aspect ratio (the ratio of the length in the long side 54a to the length in the short side 53a) can be made close to or equal to 1.

On the other hand, the shape of each functional channel is usually substantially cylindrical, and the cross-sectional shape of its tip is substantially circular.
It is almost 1.

Therefore, the aspect ratio of the package 50 of the CCD image sensor 5 is closer to the aspect ratio (substantially 1) of the cross section of the functional channel than the CCD image sensor 100 in the conventional electronic endoscope shown in FIG. Therefore, according to the CCD image sensor 5, the diameter of the substantially cylindrical hole 46 into which the CCD image sensor 5 is inserted as shown in FIG. When the functional channels are arranged near the CCD image sensor 5, the CCD
Useless space around the image sensor 5 can be minimized, and the diameter of the endoscope main body 2 can be reduced.

Further, according to the CCD image sensor 5, the function channels, in particular, the optical fiber bundles 44 and 45 for the light guide are brought as close as possible to the short side 53a side and the short side 53b side of the imaging area 52 of the CCD image sensor 5. Can be arranged. That is, while minimizing the useless space around the CCD image sensor 5, the function channels, in particular, the optical fiber bundles 44 and 45 for the light guide are connected to the short side 5 of the imaging area 52 of the CCD image sensor 5.
It can be arranged on the 3a side or the short side 53b side.

In particular, when the function channels are arranged symmetrically with respect to the section including the optical axis of the imaging optical system,
It is more advantageous in that the useless space can be reduced as compared with the case of asymmetric arrangement.

Also, the optical fiber bundle 44 for the light guide
And 45 are preferably arranged symmetrically with respect to the cross section including the optical axis of the imaging optical system. Space can be reduced.

Therefore, by using the CCD image sensor 5, the functional channel can be arranged close to the package 50 without creating a useless space near the package 50, so that the endoscope body 2 Can be reduced in diameter.

The electronic endoscope 1 is detachably mounted (connected) to a light source device for an endoscope provided with a control circuit (control means), a signal processing circuit, a light source and the like (not shown). In addition,
A monitor (display means) (not shown) that displays an image of an observation site is connected to the light source device for an endoscope.

Next, the operation of the electronic endoscope 1 will be described.

Illumination light from the endoscope light source device passes through the light guide optical fiber bundles 44 and 45, and is applied to the observation site (subject) via the alignment lenses 31 and 32.

The reflected light from the observation site is transmitted to the objective lens 3
3. By the lenses 34, 35 and 36, the light is guided to form an image on the light receiving surface of the CCD image sensor 5. At this time, the high-frequency component is removed from the reflected light by the optical low-pass filter 37.

On the other hand, the CCD image sensor 5 is driven based on a drive signal from the signal processing circuit of the electronic endoscope 1. By driving the CCD image sensor 5, an image of the observation site, that is, the observation site formed on the light receiving surface is captured, and a CCD signal is output from the CCD image sensor 5.

The CCD signal is input to a signal processing circuit of the electronic endoscope 1 via a signal line (not shown), converted into a predetermined image signal, and output.

This image signal is input to a light source device for an endoscope via a signal line (not shown). The light source device for an endoscope performs predetermined signal processing on the image signal to generate and output a television signal in a predetermined form.

The television signal is input to a monitor, and a screen of the monitor displays a CCD image sensor 5.
The video (electronic image) of the observation site captured in the step is displayed.

As described above, according to the electronic endoscope 1, the diameter of the endoscope main body 2 can be reduced.

The electronic endoscope of the present invention can be applied to, for example, a medical electronic endoscope or an industrial electronic endoscope. In particular, the present invention is applied to a medical electronic endoscope. In this case, the burden on the patient can be reduced by reducing the diameter of the endoscope main body 2 of the electronic endoscope 1.

The electronic endoscope according to the present invention has been described based on the illustrated embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the configuration of each part may be any configuration having the same function. Can be replaced by

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the terminals of the image sensor are arranged on one long side and the other long side of the image pickup area. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the terminals of the imaging element may be arranged only on one long side of the imaging region.

Further, in the present invention, image sensors of various types such as a MOS image sensor and a CPD can be used regardless of the type of the image sensor, and any of a color image sensor and a monochrome image sensor can be used. Is also good.

[0062]

As described above, according to the electronic endoscope of the present invention, since the image pickup device in which the terminals are arranged on the long side is used, the diameter can be reduced.

Accordingly, when the present invention is applied to a medical electronic endoscope, the burden on the patient can be reduced by reducing the diameter of the electronic endoscope.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram (bottom view and cross-sectional view) showing an embodiment of an electronic endoscope according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram (a plan view and a side view) illustrating a configuration example of a CCD image sensor according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram (a plan view and a side view) showing a CCD image sensor of a conventional electronic endoscope.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electronic endoscope 2 Endoscope main body 21 Tip part 22 Central axis 31, 32 Orientation lens 33 Objective lens 34-36 Lens 37 Optical low-pass filter 38 Spacing ring 41 Forceps channel 42 Water supply channel 43 Air supply channel 44, 45 Light guide Optical fiber bundle for use 46 Hole 5 CCD image sensor 50 Package 50a Cover 50b Base 51 CCD chip 52 Imaging area 53a, 53b Short side 54a, 54b Long side 55 Terminal 56 Pin 57 Lead wire 58 Contact part (land part) 6 Straight 100 CCD Image sensor 110 Package 120 CCD chip 130 Imaging area 140 Short side 150 Terminal 160 Pin 170 Lead wire 180 Contact part (land part)

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2H040 GA02 4C061 AA00 BB01 CC06 DD00 FF35 FF42 LL02 5C022 AA08 AB15 AC42 AC54 AC55

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An electronic endoscope having an image pickup device having a substantially rectangular image pickup area at a distal end thereof, wherein a terminal of the image pickup device is arranged on a long side of the electronic endoscope. 2. The electronic endoscope according to claim 1, wherein a distal end of at least one functional channel is disposed near a short side of the image sensor. 3. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the distal ends of the plurality of function channels are divided into a portion near one short side of the image sensor and a portion near the other short side of the image sensor. An electronic endoscope according to claim 1. 4. A tip of each of the plurality of functional channels,
4. The electronic endoscope according to claim 3, wherein the electronic endoscope is arranged so as to be substantially line-symmetric with respect to a straight line passing through the center of the imaging region of the imaging device and parallel to a short side of the imaging region. 5. The electronic endoscope according to claim 2, wherein the functional channel includes a light guide optical fiber bundle. 6. One end of a pair of light guide optical fiber bundles is disposed near one short side of the imaging device, and the other end of the pair of light guide optical fiber bundles is an image pickup device. The electronic endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the electronic endoscope is arranged near the other short side. 7. A tip portion of the pair of light guide optical fiber bundles passes through a center of an imaging region of the imaging device,
The electronic endoscope according to claim 6, wherein the electronic endoscope is arranged so as to be line-symmetric with respect to a straight line parallel to a short side of the imaging region.